Wringer roll tensioning



Nov. 28, 1939. N. ETTEN 2,181

WRINGER ROLL TENSIONING Filed June 5, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet l EIY' AT TEENEYE} Nov. 28, 1939; N. ETTEN WRING'ER ROLL TENS IONINQ Filed Jun 5, 1955 s Shee ts-Sheet 2 F/XEJ fill/G52! ATT ERNEYE nun 0N miles 20.

R0747 LE 0U PLUG 20 N. L. ETTEN WRINGER ROLL TENS IONINQ Nov. 28, 1939.

Filed June 5, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I ATTCJENEYE Patented Nov. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WRINGER. ROLL TENSIONING Nicholas L. Etten, Waterloo, Iowa, assignor to Chamberlain Corporation, Waterloo, Iowa Application June 5, 1935, Serial No. 25,036

12 Claims.

tween wringer rolls, which consists of a novel.

mechanism disposed within one of the rolls.

Another object is to provide a tensioning element disposed within one of the rolls the same having connected mechanism disposed outside the rolls for stressing the element to cause the rolls to press together.

A further object is toprovide mechanism as aforesaid and co-operative mechanism to releasably hold the tensioning element in stressed condition.

An additional object lies in the provision of a tensioning element disposed within a wringer roll, capable, when under stress, of bringing about resiliently applied pressure between the rolls of a wringer, manually operable means for operating the element to place it in stressed condition, and co-operative mechanism for holding the element in the latter condition.

It is further an object to provide a wringer mechanism including dual rolls, at least one of said rolls having means disposed within it for causing the rolls to be pressed together.

Another object is to provide a wringer mechanism including dual rolls, at least one of said 30 rolls having a torsionally stressable member disposed within it which is operable when under stress, to press the rolls together, manual means for bringing about a stressed condition in the element and releasable means for holding the element in stressed condition.

Other objects will appear in the following description and accompanying drawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view showing my device as the same would appear ready for operation;

Fig. 2 is a fractionated front elevational view wherein the entire front sections of the upper frames H and I2 are broken away and the handle control parts 31, 38 and ll removed to disclose the arrangement of the other parts.

Fig. 3 is a fractional endwise elevational view taken on line 3-3 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fractional sectional endwise eleva- 50 tional view taken on line 44 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevational view showing mechanism disposed within the lower roll of my wringer;

Fig. 6 is an end elevational view taken from 55 line 6-6 in Fig. 5;

Fi 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing certain parts in operated position;

Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the device as it would appear as though viewed from line 88 in Fig. 1. 5'

Fig. 9 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 8 with portions of the frame removed to expose in terior mechanism, the same being taken from line 9-9 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 10 is an enlarged end elevational view show- 10 ing details of construction to be referred to.

Figs; 1 and 2 of the drawings disclose my device as generally comprising a frame H) which in eludes upright end portions II and I2, and upper and lower rolls l3 and M. The frame Ill 16 is provided with conventional drain boards l5 extending downwardly and outwardly upon each side of the wringer.

The lower roll I4 is supported in the frame by means of its shaft ends l4|4 journaled 20 in bearing blocks l6 which latter rest upon extensions ll of the frame structure. At the right hand end, the shaft M of roll it is extended as shown, which extension provides means for driving connection with a power source not shown.

The upper roll [3 is supported in a special manner now to be described.

Fig. 5 illustrates that the upper roll comprises a tube member l8 which is surrounded by a layer of rubber I9, the external appearance being substantially similar to that of lower roll I4. 7

. Within each end of tube I8 there is disclosed a plug member, 20 and 2| respectively. v

The tube is rotatably fitted upon the plugs and the roll is thus made freely rotatable upon the plugs.

The plugs have skirt portions 22 and 23 which provide elongated bearing surfaces for the plugs.

Within the inner body portions of the plugs are apertures 24 which are herein shown as'having 40 a rectangular cross section, adapted to receive opposite ends of a spring member 25. The spring a has a rectangular cross section of dimensions suitable to fit the apertures 24 whereby the spring ends are held in keyed relation with the plugs. It is to be noted that the rectangular spring is herein shown as an illustration only. Any form of spring having suitable'ch'aracteristics may be employed.

Plug 2| carries an arm 26 -fixed thereto as by set screw 26' and plug 20 carries a similar member 21 which is not fixed, but is made to allow free rocking movement of the plug within it.

An arm 28 is aflixed to the outer end or plug 20 by set screw 23'.

As already noted, plug is'made rotatable within arm 21 and arm 28 is aflixed thereto.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the arm 28 is shown lying in' position opposite arm 21, and spring 25 is shown as in twisted condition. Fig. 6 indicates that arm 28 may be held in the position noted by means of a latch member 3| which will be explained shortly.

This combination of parts forms a lever system consisting of two lever arms joined by a spring wherein the. spring 25 through' 20 is tensionable to cause rotation but being held by 2| and 26 the lever 28 is forced upward where it reacts against 3| to cause roller |3 to be resiliently held down against roller I4.

Reference has been made to the latch 3|. Fig. 3 illustrates that this member forms the lower extremity of a lever 32 which is pivotally supported at 33 upon the wringer frame structure. The upper arm of the lever extends upwardly a short distance above the wringer frame structure and carries one end of a bar 34, Fig. 2, which latter extends across the wringer and has its opposite end attached to an arm 35 which is pivotally supported at 36 in the frame structure. On the opposite side of the wringer are upright arms 3'! and 38 pivotally supported at 39 and 40 respectively, and connected by a bar 4| similar to bar 34. V

A connecting link 42 connects the arms 35 and 38, it being pivotally attached at 43, above pivot 40, on arm 38 and at 44-, below pivot 36, on arm 35. by means of this connection the bars 34 and 4| are made to operate in unison but in opposite directions as indicated in dotted lines in Fig.

3. A spring 45, attached between link 42 and the wringer frame, urges the arms toward upright position, in which position the latch 3| is held in engagement with arm 28.

It will now become apparent that manipulation of either of bars 34 or 4| inwardly, away from an operator positioned on either side of the wringer, will bring about disengagement of the latch from arm 28 as shown in dotted lines in Fig.7.

Thus disengaged, arm 28 isfree to rotate clockwise responsively to the tension of spring 25 to relax the spring and render it incapable of holding the upper roll in pressure relationship with the lower roll. With the parts in this position the roll may rock freely upon arms 26 and 21.

To reset the tensioning mechanism I provide a mechanism best shown in Figs. 2, 9 and 10.

This device consists of a crank member 45 disposed outside the wringer frame structure and aifixed to a shaft 41 which is journalled in the structure and carries an affixed arm 48 disposed adjacent the arm 28.

A roller 43 is mounted upon the end of arm 48 and is disposed in the path of movement of arm28.

Crank 45 normally rests in the full line position shown in Figs. 9 and 10, with roller 49 in corresponding position. When arm 28 is released it will obviously rotate into position adjacent roller 49 after which, to reset the arm, crank 46 is rotated counterclockwise, Fig. 10, whereupon roller 49 will engage the arm and force it backwardly to be engaged by latch 3|. Crank 46 is then returned to normal position.

It will be noted that the center of shaft 4'! is disposed offset from the axial center of roller |3 whereby the roller 49, at the beginning of its resetting stroke, is placed somewhat near the center of rotation of arm 28 whereas at the end of the stroke it is engaged at a point considerably further from this center. This arrangement increases the ease with which resistance of spring 25 may be overcome, this by reason of the force exerted on crank 46 being applied to greater advantage as the resistance of spring 25 increases.

To prevent longitudinal movement of roll I3 I provide that the outer end of plug 2| may engage an abutment member 50 and the outer end of plug 20 abuts the inner face of arm 48.

The foregoing has described an embodiment of my invention. Modifications are obviously possible without alteration of the principle involved. I do not wish to be limited in structure or prin ciple except within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the class described, a frame having therein upper and lower wringer rolls in combination with means for holding the rolls in pressure relationship comprising, an arm supported in one end of one of the rolls for pivotal movement in the plane of rotation of the roll, a second arm similarly supported in the opposite end of the roll, the arms extending from opposite ends of the roll, a resilient member in the roll connecting the arms whereby the arms cooperate to form a lever system embodying a resilient element supported by the roll with the lever made rockable about the relatively fixed center of the roll and means for applying pressure upon the arms in the direction of the other roll whereby the associated roll is forced toward the other roll.

2. A roll wringer mechanism including in combination, a frame having therein a pair of wring er rolls, one of" said rolls being movable toward the other and means for holding the rolls in pressure relationship comprising, an arm mounted for pivotal movement in each end of the movable roll, said arms extending from opposite ends of the roll, a torsion spring lying along the axial center of said roll with its opposite ends attached to and connecting the arms within the movable roll to form a lever system embodying a resilient element, the levers being supported in the movable roll normally resting against the opposite roll, and means for pressing the arms toward the opposite roll whereby the arms are rotated in the movable roll in opposite directions and said spring is torsionally flexed to press the movable roll upon the opposite roll.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2, provided with means for quickly releasing one of said arms,

freeing it to rotate responsively to tension of the spring whereby the spring is relaxed and pressure between the rolls is removed.

4. A roll wringer mechanism including, a pair of rolls and a supporting frame therefor, one of said rolls being movable toward and from the other, a torsionally active spring mounted in the movable roll in a manner to react upon the fixed roll to press it toward the opposite roll when torsionally stressed, and means connecting the spring with the supporting frame torsionally to stress the spring whereby said spring will press its role toward the other roll.

5. A roll'wringer mechanism including, a pair of rolls and supporting frame therefor, said rolls being movable toward and from one another, a torsionally active spring mounted in one of the rolls in a manner to react upon the roll to press it toward the opposite roll when torsionally stressed, mechanism connecting the spring with the supporting frame for stressing the spring in torsional manner to press its supporting roll toward the other roll, and manual means for operating said connecting mechanism to stress the spring.

6. A roll wringer mechanism including, a pair of rolls and a supporting frame therefor, said rolls being relatively movable toward and from one another, a torsionally active spring mounted in one of the rolls in a manner to react upon the roll to press it toward the opposite roll when torsionally stressed, releasable mechanism connecting the spring with the supporting frame v for stressing the spring in a torsional manner to press its supporting roll toward the other roll, manual means for operating said connecting mechanism' to stress the spring, and manual means for releasing said releasable mechanism.

7. In a clothes wringer, a frame, rolls therein including a driven roll rotatable on a fixed axis, a tubular companion roll, bearings for the latter,

rocking arms carrying said bearings at one end 7 each for said companion roll and pivotally secured at their other ends to the wringer frame at co-axial points spaced equally from a plane common to the axes of both rolls, one of said bearings being rigid with its arm and the other being rotatable relatively to its arm, a torsion spring extending through the tubular roll and secured at its ends to said bearings to provide against rotation relatively thereto, a lever arm rigid with the last-named bearing, a trip arm rigid therewith, a manually operable trip-lever disposed on said frame to engage said trip-arm, and a manually operable means mounted upon the wringer frame and engageable with said lever arm to rotate the last named bearing against the action of said spring to cause the trip-arm to engage the trip lever whereby said spring is tensioned to urge the tubular roll against the driven roll.

8. In a clothes wringer, a frame, rolls therein including a driven roll rotatable on a fixed axis, a companion roll, a pair of rocker arms pivotally secured at one end each to the wringer frame at co-axial points spaced equally from a plane common to the axes of both said rolls, a bearing for one end of the last-named roll rigid with one of said arms, a bearing for the other end of said roll rotatably mounted in the other arm, a torsion spring nonrotatably connected with both said bearings and axially disposed thereof, manually operable means for effecting-a relative rotation of said bearings for tensioning said spring, and a manually releasable trip mechanism arranged to hold said last-named bearing in the position for maintaining said spring under tension and thereby causing said trip mechanism to cooperate with said spring to maintain the last-named roll yieldably engaged with the driven roll.

9. In a clothes wringer, a frame, rolls therein including a driven roll rotatable on a fixed axis,

' a companion roll, a pair of rocker arms pivotally secured at one end each to the wringer frame at co-axial points spaced equally from a plane common to the axes of both said rolls, a bearing for one end of the last-named roll rigid with one of said arms, a bearing for-the other end of said roll rotatably mounted in the other arm, a torsion spring nonrotatably connected with both said bearings and axially disposed tioned'bearing, a crank arm mounted on a pivot rigid with the frame and disposed .in a plane offset from the first-named plane, a manually operable trip-mechanism operatively associated with said last-named bearing, anda device on said lever arm disposed for engagement with said crank arm in the direction wherein said lever arm is caused to rotate the last-named bearing to distort the springand set said trip mechanism, the latter cooperating with said arms to maintain the distortion of the spring and cause the companion roll to be urged toward the driven roll, said offset pivot of said crank-arm acting to increase the leverage exerted upon the lever arm to effect distortion of said spring.

10. In a clothes wringer, a frame, a pair of relatively movable wringer rolls therein, a torsion spring disposed axially of one of said rolls, relatively rotatable bearings for the latter roll nonrotatably secured to opposite ends of said spring, carriers for said respective bearings, a trip mechanism associated with one of the latter, and a manually operable means for rotating the lastthereof, a lever arm rigid with the last-mennamed bearing relatively to the other thereof for tensioning said spring and setting said tripmechanism, whereby to maintain the tension of said spring and causing said trip-mechanism to cooperate with said spring and said carriers to urge the last-named roll toward the other roll.

11. In a clothes wringer, a frame, a pair of relatively movable wringer rolls therein, a torsion spring disposed axially of one of said rolls, relatively rotatable bearings for the latter roll nonrotatably secured to opposite ends of said spring, carriers for said respective bearings, a

relatively movable wringer rolls therein, a torsion spring disposed axially of one of said rolls, relatively rotatable bearings for the latter roll nonrotatably secured to opposite ends of said spring, carriers for said respective bearings, a trip mechanism associated with one of the latter, and a manually operable leverage compounding mechanism for rotating the last-named bearing relatively to the other thereof for tensioning said spring and setting said trip-mechanism, whereby to maintain the tension of said spring and causing said trip-mechanism to cooperate with said spring and said carriers to urge the last-named roll toward the other roll.

NICHOLAS L. E'I'IEN. 

